


That Wasn't There Before

by MistressDandelion



Category: Night World - L. J. Smith
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood Drinking, Dark, Dark!Delos, F/M, Feeding, Human/Vampire Relationship, MaggiexDelos, Night World, Obsession, One Shot, Short, Soulmates, Stalking, Supernatural Elements, Vampire Feeding, Vampires, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 13:32:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11556228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressDandelion/pseuds/MistressDandelion
Summary: Delos never anticipated becoming so obsessed with a human girl, but he can't get her out of his head.A series of vignettes. Set in the AU where Delos was taken out of the Dark Kingdom by Hunter and has forgotten all about Maggie and the Soulmate Principle.Complete(?)





	That Wasn't There Before

**Author's Note:**

> I was experimenting with short scenes and dialogue. I stopped writing this briefly because I wasn't convinced that it's Complete, but I'm pretty sure there's not any more I can add without ruining it.
> 
> I hope you enjoy. I had a lot of fun with this piece, exploring what I can do in under 300 words.

Delos had never anticipated having to tell so many lies. 

The lies seemed to pour out of him. At first, he had only lied by omission, holding back specific information to protect himself. 

Now he lied even when he didn't need to. 

A gust of wind swept up, curling through his hair and his coat. The chill had no effect on him, but he could see  _ her  _ shivering, even at this distance.  _ She  _ pulled her coat tighter around herself as  _ she _ walked into the wind, and Delos couldn't help himself from following. 

At an intersection,  _ she  _ paused, turning her head to peer into the semi-darkness of an autumn evening. He ducked out of sight. Only to follow  _ her _ once more as  _ she _ crossed the street. 

_ She.  _ One of his many lies. 

The reason he left home nearly every day, lying to Hunter about where he was going, what he was doing, who he was with. The lies poured out of him unprompted now. And Hunter’s eyes only narrowed, in the familiar suspicion. Suspicion of his own son, who he wanted so desperately to be  _ normal.  _

_ She  _ was none the wiser as he followed  _ her _ through the darkened streets. Totally oblivious, tapping away on that ridiculous glowing contraption as  _ she  _ walked, alone, unarmed, unaware, back home. Passing beneath a streetlamp,  _ her  _ hair glowed,  a halo of fire surrounding  _ her _ for an instant, before vanishing once more. 

And Delos followed. Keeping his distance, never daring to make himself known. 

Watching. 

And desiring. 

 

\---

 

“Delos? Welcome home, son.” 

The voice hit him the instant he opened the door.

“Hello,  _ father. _ ” 

“You’re home late.” 

“Yes,” a pause, while he stepped around the corner and finally brought Hunter into sight. A quick intake of breath, keeping a carefully controlled expression on his face as he saw what Hunter was doing. “I went out. Hunting.”

“Hunting.” 

“Your idea, if I’m remembering right.” 

“Hm . . .”

And then silence. Silence while Hunter trailed his fingers along the girl’s throat, and she sat in a dream-like stupor, totally unaware. 

“How are you adjusting?” Hunter was the first to break the silence.

“Fine,”  _ If by adjusting you mean ‘struggling to comprehend even the most basic of human customs and technologies.’  _

“You’ve been  _ hunting  _ every night this week.” 

“There  _ are  _ a lot more options here than at home. I’ll give you that.” 

“Ah,” 

Another beat of silence, and Delos shifted. “You’ve had her before,” He nodded to the woman, still kneeling silent and docile by Hunter’s feet. 

“She’s something of a favorite.” 

“Why?” 

He saw Hunter’s eyebrow quirk and his eyes narrow in that ever-present suspicion. “Because she’s  _ fun,  _ son. Surely you’ve had a fun one by now?” 

_ That depends on your definition of fun.  _ “Probably not as fun as the ones you’ve had.” He paused. “How do you choose? A girl, I mean.” 

“When you have your pick, you get to be picky. Find the one that won’t just come because you drew her in.” 

No influencing, then. 

He pondered, chewing the inside of his lip. 

“Something the matter, son?” 

“No,” Drawing in a quick breath, he forced a smile. “I’ll leave you to it. Goodnight.” 

 

\---

 

_ She  _ laughed brightly, her merriment rising above the general hum of voices in the crowded cafe. Surrounded by friends,  _ she _ seemed to glow with the light and energy of a being so pure he nearly feared to look at her. 

He watched  _ her  _ carefully from across the room, doing his best to appear as though he  _ wasn’t  _ intensely focused on  _ her _ and everything  _ she _ did or said. 

He’d been following  _ her _ since early that morning when  _ she’d _ first left home. Disheveled and yawning,  _ she’d _ been totally unaware of his presence as he followed  _ her _ quietly. He hadn’t even needed to hide, simply walked a block behind  _ her _ , able to see and hear everything  _ she _ did even at that distance. 

“Oh my god, Maggie,” One of  _ her _ friends, a girl with a haircut Delos never would have been able to  _ imagine  _ before coming here, leaned in close and began to speak in a hushed voice. “Do you see that guy in the corner?” 

Suddenly the whole group shot subtle looks in his direction.

Panic flared in his chest.

Panic at the thought that he'd been discovered. That he'd been too obvious. 

He could feel his body tensing, ready to flee. 

“He's  _ super  _ cute!” 

Stupor. Shock. He relaxed all in a rush, going limp in his seat even as he pretended to be absorbed in the book lying open before him.  _ That  _ was all? 

Giggles absorbed the group of girls, and they turned back to their conversation. 

But  _ her  _ gaze lingered. 

He looked up in time to catch her eyes, just before she looked away. 

 

\---

 

“You've been going out without me.” 

He could hear the reproach in her voice. “I've needed the practice.”

“You  _ know  _ I'll hunt with you whenever you want!” 

“I know. I'm sorry.” He  _ was  _ sorry, in a way. Kestrel had been his mentor when he'd most needed one, and “hunting” without her must've felt like a betrayal. “I'll make it up to you, okay?” 

She narrowed her eyes at him. So reminiscent of her uncle, it startled him. “How?” 

“We'll go out! Tonight. We can hunt, y’know? I'll show you my moves.” A quick, weak laugh, as he inwardly cringed. 

She seemed not to notice. “Really?” 

“Of course! You  _ know  _ I didn't mean anything by it.”  _ I just needed some time to see  _ her. “I want to go out tonight. It'll be fun.” 

“Well . . . If you  _ really  _ want to,” 

A quick hesitance, which he filled with as enthusiastic a nod as he could muster.

“Then I’ve been  _ dying  _ to try this new place. It just opened up. I mean, it’s only eighteen plus, so it’s not like I’ll need my fake, and there’ll probably be a  _ ton  _ of kids there. But it could be fun?” 

He snorted as she said “kids,” but only shook his head and sighed. 

She ignored him. “And I mean, worst case scenario, we can drink and dance. And really, at the end of the night, what does it matter who you leave with?”

She rattled on, but he’d already tuned her out. 

What did it matter, indeed?

What did it matter who he left with, when his mind was full of autumn-colored hair, gold-brown eyes, and the scent of grass, and dirt, and  _ life.  _

 

\---

 

The club practically  _ pulsed  _ with the combined cacophony of music and voices. 

Delos hadn’t found it in himself to dance yet. But he could see Kestrel on the dance floor, no less than three young men close by her. Doing their best to dance closest to her even as she teased them all. Even  _ Delos  _ could see that she was only having fun, with no real intention of taking any of them out into the night. 

It was early, yet.

He could also see  _ her. _

Just out of the corner of his eye, _ she _ was like a shimmering, red-gold angel. 

The dress _she_ wore sparkled in the dim lights, so brightly he almost couldn’t bare to look directly at _her._ So he contented himself with watching from the corner of his eye, keeping _her_ just within his line of sight as _she_ laughed and danced in a circle with _her_ friends. 

He jumped, startled despite himself, when Kestrel suddenly grabbed his hand. Having sojourned beyond the dance floor for a breather, she’d grabbed him to pull him close.

“Those girls are checking you out.” She jerked her chin, the subtle movement drawing his eyes to  _ her  _ and  _ her  _ group of friends. 

And she was  _ right.  _ The group of girls, dancing together in a tight group, like prey animals seeking safety in numbers, were casting curious looks in his direction.  _ She  _ had seen him, and he tensed as  _ she  _ broke away from  _ her _ friends. 

Kestrel disappeared from his side, and he was alone.

Alone in a crowd of people as  _ she  _ approached. 

 

\---

 

“What’s your name?” 

He couldn’t figure out how they’d gotten to this point. 

“Delos. Tell me yours.” 

_ She  _ paused to catch  _ her _ breath,  _ her _ fingers tight in the fabric of his shirt. “Maggie.” 

“ _ Maggie.”  _ He finally had a name.

And then silence again, while  _ she _ pressed against him. 

_ She _ was the first to pull away. “We should probably . . .” He interrupted  _ her _ briefly. “Probably stop? I need to go. I promised my mom I’d be home before midnight.”

Something inside him rebelled at the idea of letting  _ her _ go. “It’s still early. Stay with me. Come with me!” The idea jumped into his head all at once. 

It was one thing to kiss  _ her _ in a corner of the club, but if he could get  _ her _ outside _. . . _

“What?” 

“Do you want to step outside? We can talk. Get to know each other?”

_ She _ paused, chewing  _ her _ lip. Then, “Okay. That sounds really nice.” 

“Perfect.” 

_ Her  _ hand curled into the crook of his arm, and they broke away from the heat and noise to the cool air outside. 

“I don't normally do things like this.”  _ She  _ sounded worried.  _ That I'll think she's easy?  _

“Me neither.”  _ There’s just something about you.  _

Even as he thought the words, she spoke. “There’s just something so . . . strange about you. Not  _ strange  _ in a bad way! I just . . . feel like we’ve met before.” 

“It’s funny you should say that.” 

“Why?”

“I feel the same way.” 

 

\---

 

Being so near  _ her  _ was intoxicating. More than the handful of shots Kestrel had pushed on him--she’d needed her fake ID after all, hadn’t she? The  _ smell  _ of  _ her _ was one thing, the heady scent of rich, human blood flowing beneath  _ her _ dusky skin, and the familiar scents of dirt and grass, lingering despite the floral scent layered delicately on top. 

The  _ feel  _ of  _ her _ was another thing entirely. His body tingled with the touch of  _ her _ skin. He ached to be near  _ her _ , the few inches of space between them seeming like an unbearable distance. 

He wanted to touch  _ her _ .

He wanted to kiss  _ her _ .

More than anything, he wanted to  _ bite her _ . 

The way _ she _ stared up at him,  _ her  _ tiny stature obvious in contrast to his height, made his knees weak. 

And the way  _ she _ trustingly followed him as he pushed  _ her _ further and further from the club, and  _ her _ friends, made him cringe. 

_ She _ shouldn’t trust him. 

_ She  _ should never have approached him. Because now, he hardly felt in control of his own actions, spurred on by a drive more ancient than either of them could fathom. 

“I really should probably go back to my friends.” She said, even as he’d gotten her out of sight of the club’s front entrance. “Can . . . can I have your number, though?” 

“Number?” He shook his head, trying to rattle his thoughts free of the only image that had any clarity.  _ Oh, yes. A phone number.  _

For an insane moment, he considered giving it to her. Making this into a  _ thing.  _

Then, he bit her.


End file.
